Week 30 - Raspberry Jam Tartlets

A few of my vintage cookbooks are meant for kids. This usually means the recipes are really easy and often time use pre-packaged mixes and ingredients. Since it wouldn't be much of a challenge for me to be cooking from those by myself I decided to do a few recipes with my nephew and niece, Caleb and Julia.
They were in Vermont visiting my parents, so I also went and spent the week with them. I brought a couple of kid's cookbooks with me, so they could help me try them out.

My helpers Caleb and Julia, host and hostess of tomorrow.

After Caleb, Julia and I looked through the cook book, we decided on raspberry-jam tartlets from the 1955 edition of "Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cook Book for the Host & Hostess of Tomorrow". I initially purchased this cookbook for the fabulous cover design. We chose the tartlets because I knew they would be quick to make and we already had many other activities planned for the day.

"Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cook Book for the Hostess and Host of Tomorrow".

The recipe called for packaged pie crust mix. We decided to make our own pie crust from one of my Mom's cookbooks, rather than use a mix. It would take a little bit longer, but we figured it would just taste better. Caleb and Julia helped me with the dough by adding the ingredients and mixing it in. Since there are only a few ingredients in pie crust, they took turns adding the ingredients.

Julia adding flour to the mixture

Caleb cutting shortening in with the dry ingredients

Once the dough was ready we rolled it and cut out the shapes for the tartlets. The kids each chose a fancy shaped cookie cutter for their tartlet and we cut the rest with a simple round cutter. Caleb's tartlet was in the shape of a sailboat and Julia's a flower. A spoonful of raspberry jam was added in the middle of the shapes and a cover placed on each one. We thought about using the fresh blueberries we had just picked a few days earlier but decided pre-made jam would be much easier.

Rolling out the dough

Adding jam filling

We poked small air holes in the tops of each and sprinkled them with sugar. Once the tartlets were assembled, they were ready for the oven. They cooked very quickly and were ready in about 7 minutes.

While we were waiting for the tartlets to cool, we made a tent outside, with some kitchen chairs and sheets. We then had a picnic lunch, with the tartlets for dessert.

Reviews of the tartlets were mixed. Julia wasn't as big a fan. Most likely she was expecting the crust to taste more like a cookie. The rest of us liked them and had no problem finishing them. The crust was light and fluffy and offset the sweetness of the jam.

Julia testing her tartlet. She only ate the parts with jam on them, as the crust wasn't very sweet.

Caleb had no trouble finishing his tartlet.

These tartlets were fun and easy to make and a perfect recipe for children. The pie crust is unsweetened, so it may not be for everyone. I think a sugar cookie dough would have worked very well and may have been more of a hit with everyone.

A final tartlet, just out of the oven

Week 30 Roundup

Cookbook: "Better Homes and Gardends Junior Cook Book for the Host and Hostess of Tomorrow", published in 1955

Recipe: Raspberry Jam Tartlets

Difficulty: Very easy

Alterations: We made the pie crust from scratch, rather than using a mix